VSC, ABS, Brake Light, Exclamation in Circle and Parentheses

what was it in for the first time when it got “messed up”

 

sounds like wiring damage and a short somewhere in those repairs. gonna take a really good tech to find it.
see if there are any electrical specialty shops in the area.

 

This sounds like the misdiagnosing of the C1241 DTC. Shame on the Toyota tech.

My theory is the body shop ran the 12 V battery down while doing the repairs. When they were ready for you to collect, they botched the jump start (or connection of battery charger) but got away with not blowing any fuses**, but instead damaged the DC/DC converter within the Inverter assembly.

This damage is not enough to stop the DC/DC converter dead, but when it has been running a while, something in the DC/DC converter overheats and shuts down. This causes the car to run off the 12 V battery which in turn runs down. When it gets low enough, it flags the C1241 DTC and triggers all the dash lights. It might also set the buzzer off too.

Not sure where you will go from here.


** Or, who knows, they did blow fuses and the fusible link and replaced them without saying so.

 

Good 12v battery and it runs.

It stays running once it starts.

Good grief Charlie Brown! Did anybody measure the charging voltage and current while it was in Ready (eg charging)? About two minutes.

Did anyone run a parasitic draw test on the 12v battery when it is charged and the car is off. Maybe 10 minutes.

Between the two checks you get an answer and it won't be a bad 12v battery. 90% it's a parasitic draw. Then they have to go beyond auto mechanic 101 and repair it.

 

a para sitic draw test would simply measure how much draw on the 12v with the car off. there is a standard spec to compare with.
the key fob revelation is another wrench in the works

 

Settles it then. Your car is oppositional-defiant.

 

The new 12v battery is unlikely to be bad. But it could be low due to a charging issue or drains low when the car is off.

The running voltage check is half of step one indicating the dc to dc is supplying charging voltage. The second part of step one uses a clamp on dc amp meter to measure charging current. There are other ways to measure the current but a dc clamp meter is fast.

The parasitic draw when off "can" use a dc clamp meter to determine if there is a huge draw but the more sensitive and common method is to insert a amp meter in series with the battery cable. This is a little more time consuming but if the off state current is much more than 35 ma (thousands of an amp) the battery can discharge overnight or over a couple of days of non-use. For example we have seen plenty of rear hatch lights remain on and discharge the battery. Often aftermarket equipment gets flakey and draws power when it should not. Even an obd2 device continually plugged in has caused issues. There was a electric power steering module pulling a thousand ma all the time.

Parasitic draw is normally 10-25 ma but can be higher for a few minutes after powerdown. That is normal. The draw can last longer if the battery has been disconnected as the ecus all initialize. Maybe 45 minutes gradually reducing back to < 30 ma. In the end a sensitive dc clamp meter eliminates the longer time periods when testing parasitic draw.

A recent "Pine Hollow Diagnostics" youtube video demonstrates a couple of parasitic draw methods. The measurement is relatively easy with the right techniques and tools and is a common mechanic skill. If it is normal the issue can be discounted. If it is high, the skill level to repair goes up.